Israeli minister: We'll destroy Iran if they attack

Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure Benjamin Ben-Eliezer warned on Monday that if Iran attacks the Jewish state, it will suffer widespread destruction as a result.

Speaking at the headquarters for Israel's largest ever national emergency and defense drill, Ben-Eliezer said that "an Iranian attack will prompt a severe reaction from Israel, which will destroy the Iranian nation."

Israel is conducting the massive five-day emergency drill in response to mounting regional threats, including Iran's nuclear program and the Iranian leadership's openly stated desire to eradicate Jewish sovereignty from the region.

On Tuesday, the drill simulated a non-conventional missile strike on Israeli population centers. Defense officials fear that even if Iran itself refrains from firing missiles at Israel, it is supplying a large number of such weapons to its Hizballah proxy in Lebanon.

In related news, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proudly announced on Tuesday that his nation had begun installing an additional 6,000 advanced centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. Iran already has 3,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges on line.

The enrichment of uranium is a key step in the production of the fissile material needed to build nuclear weapons, a stated goal of the current Iranian leadership.

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